The bill is an excellent example of just why the Legislature is so unpopular.
Supreme Judicial Court
Posted inState Government
SJC upholds Walsh’s spot on ballot; Manning Martin case still pending
On Monday, SJC Justice Frank Gaziano denied the State Ballot Law Commission’s appeal of an Essex County Superior Court ruling that overturned the commission’s decision and reinstated Walsh’s name onto the ballot.
Posted inBallot Questions
Mass. high court strikes rent control question from ballot
The decision averts a months-long season of aggressive campaigning that seemed sure to generate tens of millions of dollars in spending on attack ads and dire warnings about economic upheaval.
Posted inBallot Questions
Mass. primary election overhaul eligible for November ballot, SJC rules
Should Massachusetts run its elections more like California? That question is cleared to appear on the ballot, according to the state’s highest court, possibly teeing up a major shift in our notoriously uncompetitive races.
Posted inBallot Questions
SJC blocks high-stakes income tax cut question from the November ballot
In a blockbuster ruling just as ballot measure campaigns submit their final signatures, Massachusetts’s highest court cut the fuse of a revenue bomb that was set to blow $5 billion out of the state budget. An initiative aiming to cut income taxes is blocked from the ballot because of errors in the attorney general’s summary.
Posted inCourts
SJC keeps recreational marijuana repeal in the mix for November
The first of four expected rulings about ballot question eligibility went in favor of the campaign, with justices deciding that a push to reverse the 2016 statewide pot vote was properly certified and summarized.
Posted inState Government
SJC ruling opens a path for legislative audit without ending the bitter dispute
Don’t expect a tidy resolution now that the state’s highest court has stamped an initial mark on the auditor’s long-running crusade to probe the House and Senate.
Posted inOpinion
In charging Boston police officer with manslaughter, Suffolk DA ignored broader framing mandated by US Supreme Court
Under the Constitution, the question is not whether the officer was ultimately right. The question is whether a reasonable officer, confronted with the same tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving circumstances, could have perceived an immediate threat and responded in this way.
Posted inCourts
High court justices weigh deadline for Campbell-DiZoglio resolution
During oral arguments, the Supreme Judicial Court signaled it might order Attorney General Andrea Campbell and Auditor Diana DiZoglio to agree on a narrow scope of issues by a certain date, in an attempt to force forward movement in the long-running fight about auditing the Legislature.
Posted inLocal Government
Political Notebook: South Hadley voters reject controversial Proposition 2½ override
The proposals sparked a heated local debate as sluggish state aid growth and strict limits on local tax increases continue to trap many local governments in a difficult position with few options to manage rising costs.
Posted inCourts
In first ruling of its kind, Mass. high court says Meta not shielded from lawsuits over addictive features
The Supreme Judicial Court became the first statewide high court to decide that a 1996 federal law shielding internet platforms from liability over user-posted content does not render Meta immune to allegations that its design exploited young users.
Posted inBallot Questions
Mass. Senate asks top state court to examine constitutionality of legislative reform ballot questions
For the first time in a decade, lawmakers exercised their authority to seek an advisory opinion from the state’s highest court, asking justices whether a pair of ballot questions on course to reach voters in November raise constitutional concerns.
Posted inPolitics
Two veteran Democrats sue to block all-party primary ballot question
A pair of Democratic state committee members want the state’s highest court to toss a ballot question that would shift state elections to an all-party primary system, teeing up a legal fight over a measure that could fundamentally reshape political power in Massachusetts.
Posted inHousing
Our top five housing stories of 2025
The Bay State’s housing crunch seemed to reach into all corners in 2025, tying up courts, lawmakers navigating climate and transportation concerns, groups dependent on federal fair housing funding, and services promising to make it easier for more people to afford to live in pricey Massachusetts.
Posted inCourts
Bar advocate work stoppage becomes an SJC separation-of-powers conundrum
Over the course of 70 minutes of arguments by the two sides, and pointed questioning from the justices, none of the Supreme Judicial Court’s seven judges appeared eager to snatch the power of the purse from Beacon Hill lawmakers.
Posted inCourts
SJC considers whether charter schools must obey public records laws
The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, in rebuffing at least 10 public records requests for information on various aspects of its operations, insists that it is not covered by the sweeping statute guaranteeing public access to the records of government entities.
Posted inCourts
Is Harvard responsible for the alleged sale of body parts from its medical school morgue?
It remains still unclear if the behavior of a Harvard morgue manager who allegedly ran a multi-state human remains scheme – “ghoulish” in the words of a Supreme Judicial Court justice considering the case – means that the Ivy League school is also on the hook.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: An ad campaign’s cutting room floor
History, as the aphorism goes, is written by the winners. So are the tourism ads celebrating the victories 250 years later.
Posted inCourts
SJC: $70,000 engagement ring must be returned to giver if wedding called off
“We now join the modern trend adopted by the majority of jurisdictions that have considered the issue and retire the concept of fault in this context; where, as here, the planned wedding does not ensue and the engagement is ended, the engagement ring must be returned to the donor regardless of fault,” Justice Dalila Wendlandt wrote for a unanimous court.
Posted inHousing
20 groups weigh in on MBTA Communities Act case
The key issue in the case is whether Campbell can compel compliance when the MBTA Communities Act statute itself is silent on her enforcement power and specifically mentions the loss of grant funds as the penalty for noncompliance.
Posted inCourts
SJC rules Mass. switchblade ban unconstitutional
Second Amendment protections are “not limited to firearms,” Justice Serge Georges wrote for a unanimous court. “Like handguns, a person can carry a switchblade for offensive or defensive purposes in case of confrontation.”
Posted inCourts
SJC to decide who gets $70,000 ring after engagement called off
The question before the high court, according to a request for amicus briefs, is whether Massachusetts courts should continue applying a “fault-based approach” in determining whether an engagement ring must be returned to the giver after a broken engagement. If not, the court asks, what’s the better rule?
Posted inCourts
Is collecting your data the modern wiretap?
Could using AdTech software to monitor a public website visitor’s online actions amount to an illegal wiretap in Massachusetts?
Posted inCourts
Arguments in 7-Eleven franchise case ‘almost incomprehensible’
A case that has ping-ponged between state and federal courts considering whether 7-Eleven franchisees are independent contractors or employees under Massachusetts law left the SJC openly befuddled.
